Chitalpa tashkentensis Summer Bells - Desert Willow - Plant in 12 cm Pot

Chitalpa tashkentensis Summer Bells is an unusual large shrub, eventually a small multibranched tree if not pruned and rare in production in the Uk. It is unusual as it is not native to anywhere! It was raised in 1960 at the Uzbek Academy of Sciences Botanical Gardens in Tashkent, Uzbekistan by crossing a Chitalpa tree with a Catalpa. It has been awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit. Despite its lack of ancient heritage, it is nonetheless a superb deciduous plant that, despite its tropical looks, is hardy to around -10C. In very cold northern areas, it may suffer frost damage and flowering is likely to be curtailed. It’s common name, Desert Willow, refers to the willow type leaves that are bright green, elongated and cover the stem from early spring. In autumn they turn attractive shades of warm yellows. This variant, Summer Bells, produces glorious clusters on upright stems, of drooping trumpet like, showy blooms that are light pink in colour with a yellow throat and purple veined markings, in abundance from early June to late August on new growth. As a bigeneric hybrid between two species, this tree is sterile so will not produce any fruit/seeds. The flowers have a sweet, delicate fragrance. Easy to grow in most fertile moist but well drained soils, in a full sun, sheltered location. This is one plant you really should not plant in shade. While Summer Bells does not require pruning it is tolerant of pruning to reduce and maintain a smaller size plant. Prune after flowering up to, but no later than the end of September. An excellent subject for pot growing. Use a good quality John Innes compost as this plant will be there a long time and peaty types of compost eventually degrade, become too packed and choke the roots. Ensure you feed regularly as a hungry plant is a poor performer. We recommend Osmoscote pro 8-9 month applied in the early spring. One application gives all the nutrients the plant requires for the whole year. John Innes is a soil based compost.